Washington (CNN) - CNN Foreign Affairs Correspondent Jill Dougherty caught up with Sen. Jon Kyle, R-Arizona, as he walked to the Senate floor with Sen. John Kerry, D- Massachusetts. Asked about the negotiations over voting on START during the lame duck session, Kyl said, "We're talking. In good faith."

If approved, the new START treaty would re-start mutual inspections while limiting both the United States and Russia to 1,550 warheads and 700 launchers.

Top Democrats were stunned Tuesday when Kyl, the Republican point man for Senate deliberations over the treaty, said in a statement that he told Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, that the accord should not be considered before January, when the newly elected Congress is seated.FULL STORY

(CNN) - A close political adviser to Newt Gingrich says he expects the former House speaker to make a bid for 2012 Republican presidential nomination.

The comments by Joe Gaylord to the Des Moines Register Tuesday came as Gingrich told the newspaper that he is making personal arrangements that would free him up to launch a campaign for the White House.FULL POST

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - The country got a little shock therapy last week when the co-chairmen of President Obama's debt commission offered their recommendations for curbing U.S. debt. One of their goals: reduce deficits by $4 trillion over the next decade.

On Wednesday, a leading group of economists, budget experts and former government officials is doing them one better - offering a plan that would save $6 trillion by 2020. FULL STORY

CNN: House Democrats and Republicans to choose leadership
Leadership elections for the Democratic and Republican caucuses in the House are scheduled for Wednesday. Republicans, who won a net gain of at least 60 seats in the midterm elections, will control that chamber next year. House Democrats have been divided since their midterm losses, with a diminished faction of more conservative "Blue Dog" members pushing to replace outgoing Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California.

CNN: House panel finds Rangel guilty of ethics violations
A House ethics subcommittee found longtime Democratic Rep. Charlie Rangel guilty Tuesday on multiple violations of House rules. The subcommittee, according to California Democratic Rep. Zoe Lofgren, the ethics committee chairwoman, found "clear and convincing" evidence of guilt on 11 of 12 counts, including failing to pay taxes on a home in the Dominican Republic, misuse of a rent-controlled apartment for political purposes and improper use of government mail service and letterhead.

Bean called Walsh on Tuesday after final ballot counting in the three counties that comprise the state's 8th congressional district indicated the Republican edged out the three-term incumbent by a narrow margin.FULL POST